The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-08-13
ABRAHAM LINCOLNS GROWING
INFLUENCE.
HOW THE NATIONAL CHARACTER Is IN
FLUENCED BY HIM.

Travelling westward not long since,
says writer in The American, fell into
conversation with young man from
Southern Ohio. He was an earnest,
clear-minded, strong hearted soul, with a
reverence for good people and noble
deeds not always found in young men.
We spoke of Lincoln Instantly his eyes
filed with tears, which he wiped away
without showing any of the false shame
men usually feel when their eyes become
misty.
81 was only child when Lincoln died."
he said, but cannot think of his death
without feeling the same pain 1 would
feel if he had been my father. I never
saw him, and yet it seems that knew
him and loved him personally. I am
sure / am better man because Lincoln
lived. His straightforward, simple, truth
ful life puts all meaner lives to shame"
This manly tribute to the fatherly Lin
coin reminded me that he, more than all
others, still lived. His influence was
strong and moving force. It takes hold
upon the people every year with greater
strength. That personal, affectionate
nearness to him which the young man
spoke OF is the great secret Of his power.
We idealize George Washington and
make far away, glorious god of him,
splendid and imposing figure in the pages
Of history, which we admire and take
pride in, but we love Abraham Lincoln.
Instinctively we feel that he loved US. He
was the good father of his people, with
whom all felt acquainted and at ease.
1t was this tenderness of his heart, ap-
parent in all the actions of his life, which
went straight to the hearts of others. Peo-
pie never misunderstood him, nor were
they suspicious of him. Instinctively the
humblest OF them felt that he was their
friend. He was one of them. 1t has
been said of him: He loved trusted and
confded in the people to degree rarely
the common everyday folk, with yearn-
ing for their happiness almost paternal.
The people seemed to feel instinctively
how thoroughly he trusted them, and they
revered and trusted him in turn. He
was ever loyal to them and they to him."
Who can measure the influence of this
strong but simple soul upon the present
and the future? He will not live in name
and fame alone; he will live in the nobler
growth of men unborn when he was with
us. One of his biographers says: "Great
as were Lincoln's services as president,
the influence upon the future of his
words, his acts and his character, in shap-
ing the nations character, will be scarcely
less important. Honest Abe will help to
keep his countrymen honest. His patri-
otism, his integrity, his purity, his mod
GRAFTON, will contribute largely to make
the American people patriotic, honest and
upright. He was brought by many quail
tiles into such close sympathy with the
masses of the people that it is not extrav-
agant to say that the national character
will be more influenced by him than by
any other man in our history.
"We hear Lincoln's words in every
school house and college, in every cabin
and at every public meeting. We read
them in every newspaper, school book
and magazine, and they are all in favor
OF right, liberty and truth, and of honesty
and reverence for God. His words, some
OF them as familiar as the Bible, are on
the tongues of all the people, shaping the
national character, and thus, though
dead he speaketh.' His life, his teach
ing and his character will prolong the
life of the republic. II Providence sends
us other Lincolns, and enough of them,
the republic may continue forever"
All predictions of the growth of Lin
coins influence are being fulfilled. A
few characters in all history never lose
their sttractiveness. Every word about
them is read with greedy interest. Lin
coin is one of them. Twenty-Five years
have past since he left us, and the interest
in him is even greater than then, when
the people mourned him as one of their
own. Books which have him for their
subject come thick and fast from the
press. and all find eager buyers and ap-
preciative readers. In the days when his
sad and splendid funeral train was NOV
ing westward, New York journal said
of him:
ACROSS the land, then home to the
prairies, which will greet his coming with
all their fowery splendor, passes our
chief and best. Along the way he came
four years ago, to do work harder than
returns and the work |
is done. As he left his home he asked |
his neighbors, who knew and loved him,
TO pray for him in his strange and I'M
known task. Home he comes again, and
with prayers and tears and stricken hearts
they receive him, whom we all love now.
Home he comes again, dead, but living
forever, and we, who, through the clouds
Of our present sorrow, behold the serene
triumph of his life, stronger by bis
strength, wiser by his wisdom, more faith
Iul by his fidelity, more mag unanimous by
his marvellous magnanimity, turn again
10 serve his honored memory by continu-
ing his work in his own spirit"
Another journal said: "Never was king
Dr. emperor honored with such obsequies
rs those with which our republic has laid